Range Rover MKIII Serious Off-Road?

[Ferrarislave]

I currently own a 99 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited: Vari-lock axles, OME HD Lift, 32" BFG All-Terrain Ko's, and the rest of the goodies. I am picking up a 06RR HSE soon, and mods are definitely in the picture 255/55/19 MTR's, skids, sliders so I figured this was a great place to ask being that rangerovers.net is full of kids with spinners ... I was going to ask how many people here off-road their MKIII's? I read a few posts here on solid axles vs. independent and all. It bums me out to; Jeep gave up completely on off-road. The Wrangler is the only vehicle left, because so many still buy it and they don't want to change anything on its old design. The Grand Cherokee is gone... The last good Grand Cherokee was the 99-04 WJ series, which is now replaced by the WK which uses IFS and has less ground clearance then previous model years.

I really hope LR doesn't go in this direction. They are already starting too with the Range Rover Sport Supercharged and the other models which are limited by their big wheels (no possibility of smaller wheels because of big brakes), and sagging rear tires

Anyway, enough of my ranting, who here off-roads their MKIII's? Also does anyone if it's possible to lift the MKIII; Even though it has a pneumatically cross linked independent air suspension?

BTW, if anyone cares I have a extremely big gallery of MKIII's off-road on my website. Here is the link if anyone cares to see.

http://exotixboard.com/t2008-range-r...d-collage.html

[01001010]

Welcome slave,

Glad to have someone with the cojohns to wheel an MKIII here! Another one of our members that uses his Rangie for just about everything is Ishill...he'll respond to this post in time. Here's a picture I found over at Dweb and simply LOVE...

[Ferrarislave]

Nice! That MKIII was done by outback off-road in Tennesse. There were some good pictures of that one on disco2.com, but it went down... And has been down for like 3 weeks. I have a few small pictures of his RR on my site. Glad to see someone going all out with mods and wheeling the MKIII like it is supposed to be wheeled. It breaks my heart to see people just buy these as status symbols and add those hideous oversized ghetto bling bling wheels to them.

I like this picture as well...

[Rovin4life]

actually technology wise the LR3 and the RRS is better.

The RR really can go up to the same height as the others. it has hdc but not the terrain optimatization program. only the rrs and the lr3 has it.

In fact you can get a lockable rear end with both the RRS and the LR3.

All in all the RR is more of a higher price less features but more luxury.

Actually I like the RRS for its ergonomic design of the cab. much more friendly and relaxed vehicle.

Remember you are getting a heavier vehicle in the RR then the LR3 but still the same motor.


Oh and the bmw motor is strong but the things that go wrong on those years are really bad. We drop front diffs and steering columns in them at least twice a month maybe more. Depending on who goes on vacation or not.

[Ferrarislave]

The RRS feels cheap inside, and out. The Terrain response system is nice; however, I despise it. I prefer a regular low range transfer case with locking differentials or something like the 4ETS system. The RR is bigger, better engineered, and it looks 100x better inside and out. The BMW M62 V8 is no longer used in the 2006 HSE, the Jaguar 4.2L 300hp V8 is now used. The front diff issue is a known issue, but I have yet to hear of it in my area, or experience it. My friend has a 2003 RR HSE with 94,000 miles on it, and he has had 0 issues with it.

As for the RR being heavier then the LR3 and RRS, yea, who cares? I obviously am not looking at LR's for their incredible acceleration and cornering abilities.

If LR stops producing the MKIII (which I hear is very possible) I will certaintly look else where. The MKIII is a master piece in my eyes. The looks, the performance, the interior, everything is just perfect! It could not have been done any better. The only thing I wish for is that aftermarket manufactures start making mods for the MKIII. Not bling bling wheels, but off-road mods aka useful mods.

[Bene]

if you want the MkIII and have the fundage, go for it. personally i would love to see more of them like that black one. aperently there's an aftermarket for them. just not a very big one.

when/if you do pick one up, be sure to post us some pics

ps - that black one makes my we-we feel weird

[rmuller]

There really isn't a market out there yet for it.. your best bet would be to work with a custom fabricator to make the parts.. just look at other vehicles for ideas and work with the fabricator to make it work on your truck. That black RR up there is an awesome example of what is possible.

[Ferrarislave]

The black one was all custom work by a shop called Outback off-road. The only after market I know of for the MKIII is skids, roof rack, and land rover A-bars and such.

If you visit this link there are about 150 pictures of MKIII's on some good trails at Hollister Hills, Mojave, and other places.

http://exotixboard.com/t2008-range-r...d-collage.html

[Bene]

i think you're best bet for modding the suspension on one of these trucks would be to take it to a shop that specailizes in building pre runners.

[RageRover]

Nice MKIII. I've been waiting for someone to show that LR's are not just street things anymore. They are still off-road capable. Very cool.

Oh and BTW, exotixboard.com is pretty cool.

[Ferrarislave]

Thanks ragerover. And yes I was also thinking a pre-runner shop. Thing is the cross linking air suspension must stay, without it the vehicle won't articulate much, it's just the nature of IFS/IRS. The cross linking is brilliant, as is the MKIII.

Thanks for the replies, keep em comin!

[Badger1]

There is aguy that lives here in town that wheels his MKIII RR. Nice looking rig too almost the same as the previously posted pics except it's white. If I see him I'll snap a few pics and post them up.


Check out www.tnrovers.com that guy with the black RR wheels with that club.

[ish]

I don't know if I'd call my exploits serious off roading.......(unless you count sticker price...lol) but I've gotten my RR a bit muddy, and she loves it. The truck is totally sweet, like a cross between a BMW 750 and a LR. I can't imagine lifting it since you can get few inches of lift with the flick of a switch, and I certainly would not want to mess up it's on road handling.
It is one of a few LR's that is great off road and you can still cruz at 90 - 100 for hours on end.......NYC to St. Louis average speed 73mph.....that is serious shit. anyway I'll post some pics
PS. I've always had great cars / trucks, but the RR still makes me think "I'M NOT WORTHY" every time I get out of it.....lol

[02RhinoRange]

Here's a couple from TNRovers.com,
Windrock:



Monteagle:


And I personally saw the truck at Southern Appalachian Expedition in Blairsville,GA:


It's a hell of a truck with custom fabbed Front and rear steel bumpers, and steel sliders. He's running stock air suspension, and I'm pretty sure those are 16" steel wheels. I'm not sure the tire size he's running, but you could always contact: http://www.outbackoffroadcenter.com/
And don't forget about trying to sources parts they may have used on the MKIII G4 models such as front/rear light guards and if they used any diff protection, etc...
Good luck with your rig, and post some pics of wheel'n and the mod process!

[Rovin4life]

The RRS uses the same materials as the Range Rover.

in fact many of the products in all three vehicles is used between all three.

The suspension is different as far as size but alot of other stuff is the same.

oh and the wood grain is aluminum underneath with a thin film of wood underneath.

Seriously, the bmw RR is a piece of junk. The problems that go on those cars are dangerous and extremely disrupting. the older RRs had alot less disruptive problems. Front diffs break while your driving, Steering columns drop off in your lap. Lites go out and the entire unit has to be replaced at 1200 dollars a pop. Electronic instrument clusters lose a few numbers and have to be replaced at over a grand. If it gets cold enough the PCV freezes and either the engine misfires or blows up. Services are cheap. only a oil change and cabin air filter. oh nine quarts of mobil one synthetic at seven bucks a quart.

Id tell you about the oil filters but I would be giving away a company secret.

Those cars are so expensive to own it isnt funny.

Wait till your friend has problems with his car and he has to pay the bill.

I hope you buy an extended warrantee. Otherwise it will be funny as hell to listen to you whine when something goes wrong after the regular warrantee.